Locker



w. N. VANCE LOCKER Filed Sept. 14. 192a s Sheets-Sheet 1 I Aug. 4, 1931. w. N. VANCE LOCKER Filed Sept. 14, 1928 3=Sheets-Sheet fiZ/FIZZZZ Wail? 7 W W. N. VANCE Aug. 4, 1931.

LOCKER Filed Sept. 14, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 4, 1931 UNITED STATES WALTER N. VANCE, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO LYON METAL PRODUCTS, INCORPORATED, OF AURORA, ILLINOIS, A CORPGRAIION OF ILLINOIS V LOCKER This invention relates to locker doors and has for its general object to provide an improved construction whereby the door may be swung readily into open position by the simple operation of releasing the lock and without the necessity ofperforming any ancillary operations after the lock has been released. Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood from the following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 is a vertical elevation of the inside of a locker door and its surrounding frame, constructedvin accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale taken through the door on the line 22 of Fig. 1, showing the relative position of the parts when the door is closed;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing the relative position of the parts when the door is open;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical elevation looking from the inside of the door and showing the relative position of the parts when the door is open;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the relative position of the parts when the door isclosed;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal section taken on the line 66 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal section taken on the line 77 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse section of the locker door showing the mode of application of the door lock bar to the door;

Fig. 9-is an elevation looking from the inside of the door, further illustrating the mode of application of the lock bar to the door;

Fig. 10 is a fragmentary perspective view of the door and its flange showing one of the lock bar retaining studs, and

Fig. 11 is a similar perspective view showing the lock bar applied to one of the studs.

The illustrative locker door 21 is con structed preferably of sheet metal provided with surrounding peripheral flangmg d1s posed perpendicularly to the main plane of thedoor and projecting inwardly from the inner face thereof. This flanging includes the top door Hanging 22, the bottom flange ing 23, the side flanging 24 at the hinge edge of the door, and the side flanging 25 at the free edge of the door.

The door frame 26 constituting a part of the front of the locker body may be constructed also of sheet metal. This frame 26 comprises generally the vertical sides 27 and 28, located respectively at the free and hinge edges of the door, and the top and bottom horizontal connecting pieces 29 and 30, the whole forming a rectangular. frame within which the door is located. Pref erably, the described parts of the door frame extend substantially parallel with the main plane of the door and flush therewith, so as to provide a substantially flat surface at the front face of the locker'when the door is open.

The side or vertical pieces 27 and 28 are provided, respectively, with vertical flanging 31 and 32 inwardly projecting from the outer edges thereof, and the top horizontal connecting piece 29 is providedwith similarly projecting horizontal Hanging 33. The horizontal flanging 34 of the bottom piece 80 projects inwardly from the top edge of said connecting piece so as to lie adjacent to the bottom Hanging 23 of the door and provides a sill over which the door swings in closing. I

The door 21 is hung within the frame just described to swing on a vertical axis into and out of locked'position. At its hinge edge or axis the door is connected by hinges 35 extending from the hinge flange 24 to the vertical piece 28 of the door frame. These hinges 35 may be of any preferred construction permitting the door toswing outwardly into open position in respect of the locker body.

Mounted on the inside of the door is a lock 36' of any preferred construction provided with the usual locking bolt 37 adapted to project horizontally from that side of the lock adjacent to the door flange into door-locking position and to be retracted inwardly of the lock 36 into door-releasing position. The lock 36 is provided with the usual barrel for the permutation mechanism (not shown) extending through the body of the door to the outer face t-h 'eof. The barrel of the lock is adapted to receive the usual key, and the mere insertion and turning of the key to release the locking bolt 87 will permit the door to swing into open position by mechanism which will be described presently.

The vertical door lock bar 38 is mounted to shift vertically relatively to the flange 25. This bar 38 may be constructed of a strip of sheet metal suitably bent to provide the various parts essential for the mounting and functioning of the bar. The main plane 39 of the lock bar 38 lies parallel with the door flange 25 but is spaced therefro n, shown in Figs. 3, l and 5, so as to avoid unnecessary frictional contact of the lock bar with the door Hanging except where required at the points where the latch bar :is mounted on said flange 25., The lock bar 38 is suspended on studs 40 projecting inwardly from the inner face of the vertical flange 25.

These studs 40 are formed conveniently by a punching and pressing operation to provide the upper downwardly and lower upwardly inclined supporting webs ll and a2 (as shown in Fig. 10) and the centrally positioned stud head 43 of substantially circular contour. The studs 40 are ar ranged at suitably convenient intervals along the flange 25. and the lock bar 38 is provided with vertical slots 1% with which the studs 40 register and into which the heads l?) of said studs project to retain the ar 38 in position on the flange 25. he several slots 44: extend vertically of the bar 38 and are respectively of such length as to permit suflicient up or down shifting of the lock bar relatively to the door flange 25, to permit the door to be looked, as described hereinafter. Tn order to permit convenient assembly of the lock bar 08 on the studs 40, the several slots M are each enlarged. adjacent one end to provide substantially circular openings i5 of the required dimensions to receive the heads 43 of the studs during the assemblin operation. As shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the circular openings of most of the slots are arranged at the same relative ends thereof, for example, at their lower ends. The preferred arrangement, however, of at least one of the siots, has its circular opening to positioned at the reverse end of the slot in respect of the openings l5 of the other slots.

This arrangement permits the bar 258 to be mounted on the studs 40 by first positioning the bar so that the openings which are located at the lower end of their respective slots, are in registry with the heads of the studs. The bar is then pressed toward the flange :25 until the stud heads 43 have been projected through the slot openii'igs 45. During this operation, the stud 40, in re try with the slothaving the rcverseiy pos 'oned opening, cannot enter said slot becase at that time the correspoiuling circuiar opening 45 is not in registry with the heads l of the stud. The bar is HQII' lowered so that the main portions of the slots slide relatively to the heads of the studs already inserted, until the reversely positioned circular opening a5 comes in registry with the corresponding head of stud. Thereupon the head ie) ULL 43 of the stud may be projected through the reversely positioned circular opening lf), to COHIPlGiZB the mounting of the lock bar on the door flange 25. At the time of performing the la st step of the mounting operation, the lock bar is securely held in position by the other studs lO, b cause of the fact that the movement of the bar into position for receiving the head of the stud. into the rcversely positioned circular opening 25 has concurrently moved the circular openings of the other slots out of registry with the corresponding heads 4/1- of the other studs.

After the final step of mounting the latch bar on the flange has been performed, he is securely held against acciental Zsphcenrent or disengagement, be-

ause the reverse positioning of a stud head ceiving opening 45 relatively to any of others provides an arrangement wherey the increment of the bar in either direction invariably moves a stud receiving opening d5 out of registry with a corresponding stud head Yet, if it be desired to dismount the lock bar, the operation may be accomplished .vithout di'tiiculty by merely reversing the procedure just described.

T'. e loci; bar 38 is formed so that the portions s 6 thereof, in the region of the slots it, he against the inner race of the door ilanging 25 when the lock bar mounted on the studs 40. As stated, however, the main plane 39 of the bar 38 is spaced somewhat from the door front to eliminate unnecessary frictional contact and promote freedom of up and down movement of the bar relatively to the door flan e. If desired, the parts 39 of the lock Dar may be provided with vertical stiffening ribs or corrugations 47, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, land The loch bar 38 is provided with top and bottom inciined sockets and 4-9 which are coordinated functionally with keepers, hereinafter described, for the purpose of controllin the door closing and door opening operations of the lock bar. Each socket 48 or 49 may be located between a pair of slots 44 and is formed conveniently by a simple bending or pressing operation on the bar. In the illustrated embodiment, the bar is bent along the substantially horizontal bends 50 from the planes of the slot portions 46 to provide the downwardly and upwardly inclined connecting webs 51 and 52, which are respectively re-bent substantially horizontally at 53 to form a connecting portion 54 substantially in the same plane as the main plane 39 of the bar. In each connecting portion 54, the bar is re-bent along top and bottom lines of bend 55 and 56, which incline downwardly toward the main plane of the door and reversely toward the door flange 25 to provide the parallel inclined sides or connecting webs 57 and 58 of the sockets 48 and 49. These webs 57 and 58 are again re-bent parallel with the lines of bend 55 and 56 to provide the socket walls 59. The sockets 48 and 49 thus formed incline generally downwardly from the inner edges of the bar 38 and door flange 25 toward the main plane of the locker door 21 and receive the similarly inclined parallel keepers 60 and 61.

The keepers 60 and 61 may be constructed, respectively, from relatively short strips of sheet metal having seats 62 by which they are mounted and secured in any suitable manner against the inner face of the vertical piece 27 of the surrounding door frame in positions such that the keepers 60 and 61 cooperate with the corresponding lock bar sockets 48 and 49. From the seats 62, the keepers are bent, first, along lines of bend 63 into portions 64 substantially parallel with the frame flanging 31. The portions 64 extend inwardly from the door frame and are next bent along lines of bend 65 substantially perpendicularly (as shown in Fig. 6) into the projecting portions 66, which extend across the door flange 25 and are again re-bent at 67 to form the inclined functioning parts 68 of the respective keepers.

The keepers 61 and 62 and the corresponding sockets 48 and 49, because of their construction and formation, mutually cooperate functionally to control the movement of the lock bar 38 in respect of the door flanging 25. Whenever the door is open, the lock bar 38 is in its lowermost position with the studs 40 engaging the tops of the respective companion slots 44. Just toward the end of the operation of closing the door, the movement of the lock bar 38, toward the door frame, brings the sockets 48 and 49 into registry with the corresponding keepers 60 and 61, as shown in Fig. 3. -As this movement continues, the keepers enter the respective lock bar sockets and, because of the inclination of the keepers and sockets, the operation of the door into its finally closed position 'is accompanied by a gradual movement of the lock bar 38 into its fully elevated position, as shown in Fig. 2. This movement of the lock bar during the door closing operation is employed for restoring the bar to such a position that the lock 36 may be operated to lock the door, as will be described hereinafter.

In opening the door, the cooperation of the keepers 60 and 61. with the lock bar sockets 48 and 49 is employed to impart a preliminary opening swinging movement to the door, independently of any effort on the part of the person operating the door. As soon as the door lock 36 is'operated to retract the bolt 37, the lock bar 38 is, of course, released and may drop of its own weight the distance permitted by the slots 44. The releasing of the lock bar 38 causes the upper inclined sides or webs 57 to bear against the top edges of the inclined keepers 60 and 61. Hence, as the lock bar moves to its lowermost position, this inter-engagement of the parts is accompanied by an impulse which causes the sockets 48 and 49 to move away from the keepers 60 and 61 and impart an initial outward swinging movement to the door. This function of the parts so assists the door opening movement that the operation may be accomplished by merely grasping the key and pulling the door open, and without the aid of door knobs, handles or other devices.

a function in the lock bar 38 which assists in opening the door.

The lock bar 38 is provided with a socket 69 for cooperation with the locking bolt 37 of the door lock 36. This socket 69 is formed by bending the lock bar 38 along the top and bottom lines of'bend 70 and 71 inwardly away from the side door flange 25, thence bending the bar along the lines. of bend 72 and 73 to provide the shoulders 74 and 75 located, respectively, at the top and bottom of the socket 69. At tie bottom of the top shoulder 74and at the top of the bottom shoulder 75, the bar is re-bent along the lines 76 and 77 toward the door flange 25 to provide the top 78 and bottom 79 of the bolt-receiving socket 69. Finally, the bar is bent along the top and bottom lines 80 and 81 into the base 82 of the socket.

The keeper 83 of the locking .bolt 37 is formed of a strip of sheet metal provided with a seat 84 which is suitably secured to the inner face of the side piece 27 of the door frame. The keeper 83 is bent along the vertical line 85 inwardly into the part 86 substantially parallel with the frame flange 31 (see Fig. 7) and at the inner edge of the part 86 is again bent along the line The mere operation of openlng the door lock immediately produces 87 into the part 88, which extends substan tially parallel with the main plane of the door 21 and across the sit e flange 25 and lock bar 38. At its inner end the part 88 of the keeper is bent along the vertical line 89 into the keeper part 90 which projects into the socket 69 toward the inner face of the door and in substantial parallelism with the base 82 of said socket.

The keeper part 90 is provided with a bolt-receiving slot 91 cut from th top edge thereof. This slot 91 receives the locking bolt 87 when the latter is advanced into position for locking the door.

lVhenever the door is closed, the keepers and (51 cooperate with the inclined sockets l8 and a9 to lift the lock bar 38 into the door-locking position. As soon as the lock 36 is operated to lock the door, the bolt 37 advances into the keeper slot 91 and latch bar socket 69. The engagement of the top of the bolt with the top 78 of the socket- 69 holds the lock bar 38 in lifted position. Consequently, the door is locked not only by the engagement of the bolt 87 within the slot 91 of the bolt keeper, but also by the engagement of the latch keepers 60 and 61 within the respective lock bar sockets 49 and 49.

As soon, however, as the lock is operated to withdraw the bolt from the bolt keeper slot 91 and socket 69, as shown in Fig. 5, the lock bar 38 is released to permit the inclineo tops of the sockets 48 and 49 to gage the inclined top of the keepers 60 and 61. As the mere weight of the lock bar tends to cause it to drop the full distance permitted by the slots a l, this effort on the part of the lock bar will be accompanied by an impulse tending to give the door an initial opening movement. l-lence, the slightest pull on the key after the lock bar 37 has been retracted will enable the op erator to open the door readily, and without the employment of ancillary mechanism for releasing the lock bar.

The absence of mechanism for effecting the operation of the lock bar, in the illust 'ative construction, simplifies the manufacturing and assembling of the parts of the locker door. Quietness of operation, both in opening and closing the door, is promoted, and yet when locked, absolute security is obtained. The single operation of. turning the key effects the closing, latching and locking of the door, inasmuch as the operation of restoring the lock bar to do; .ocking position is substantially autom tie in its action. hen the key is turned to reease the lock, the slightest pull on key, because of the action hereinbefore described, will enable the operator to quickly and readily open the door.

It is thought that he invention and many of its attendant advantages will be u ider stood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof. Morever, it is not indispensable that all feaures of the invention be used conjointly, as hey may be advantageously employed in "arious sub-combii'iat-ions and other combinations.

I claim:

1. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, a bar movable relatively to the door and adapted by movement in one direction to effect an. opening movement of the door and by movement in the reverse direction to permit locking of the door, bar keepers mounted on the door frame for cooperation with said bar and en 'ao'ine' the L41 1 2 O O .atter on to closure, movement or the door l to shift the bar into position permitting locking of the door and to promote outward movement of the door on release of the bar for movement in the reverse direction, and a door-locking mechanism including a locking bolt movable into position for retaining the bar in shifting position and adapted when released to release the bar for movement tending to open the door.

2. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, a bar mounted on and movable vertically on the door and adapted by downard movement to effect an opening movement of the door and by upward movement to permit locking of the door, bar keepers mounted on the door frame for cooperation with said bar and engaging the latter on the closing movement of the door to shift the bar upwardly into position permitting locking of the door and to promote outward movement of the door on release of the bar for downward movement, and a door-lockmechanism including a locking bolt movable into position for retaining the bar in shifted position and adapted when released to release the bar for movement tendin to the door. a

The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, a bar mounted on the door for a limited vertical movement upwardly into door-latehing )osition and downwardly into door-openin 1 position, said bar hava latch cam suriace inclined downwardtoward the inner face of the door and g-oolt socket, a keeper mounted on no and similarly inclined for en- W id bar cam surface to lift the bar into position permitting locking of the door on closing movement of the door and to impart an outward movement to the door on downward movement of the bar, a lock ing-bolt keeper mounted on the door frame and projecting into the locking-bolt socket of the bar when the latter is not elevated, and a door-locking mechanism including a locking bolt movable to engage said lockingbolt socket and locking-bolt keeper, concurrently to lock the door and to retain the bar in elevated position to promote dooropening movement when released upon the unlatching movement of the bolt.

4. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, a bar mounted on the door for a limited vertical movement in one direction into door-latching position and in the reverse direction into door-opening position, said bar having a latch cam surface and a locking-bolt socket, a keeper mounted on the frame for engaging said cam surface to move the bar into position permitting locking of the door on closing movement of the door and in position to impart an outward movement to the door on the reverse movement of the bar, a locking-bolt keeper mounted on the door frame and projecting into the locking-bolt socket of the bar a when the latter is not elevated, and a doorlocking mechanism including a locking bolt movable, on operation thereof to lock the door, into said locking-bolt socket and locking-bolt keeper, concurrently to lock the door and to retain the bar in elevated position, and movable, on operation to unlock the door, out of said locking-bolt socket to release said bar for door-opening movement.

5. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, a bar mounted on the door for limited movement in one direction into door-latching position and in the reverse direction into door-opening position, said bar having a cam formation and a lockingbolt socket, a keeper mounted on the frame for engaging said cam formation to move the bar upon closing movement of the door to a position permitting latching of the door and in which the bar may impart an outward movement to the door on'reverse movement of the bar, a door-locking mechanism including a locking bolt movable, on operation thereof to lockthe door, into said lockingbolt socket to retain the bar in shifted position, and movable, on operation to unlock the door, out of said locking-bolt socket to release said bar for door-opening movement.

6. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, door locking means mounted on the door,-and means including ashiftable member including a cam formation and a cooperating cam member for employing the door closing movement to shift the shiftable member to a position permitting the door to be latched and from which position, upon release of the locking means, the cooperation of the shiftable member and the cam means imparts an opening impulse to the door whereby the manipulation of the locking means may effect the entire operation of opening the door.

,7. The combination with a door frame, of a relatively. movable door, means shiftable, upon closing movement of the door, to

a door locking position in vwhich said means may impart an opening impulse to the door when released and means to secure said shiftable means in shifted position.

8. The combination with a door frame, of a relatively movable door, means shiftable, upon closing the door, to a position in which it may impart an opening impulse'to the door when the same is released for opening movement and means to secure said shiftable means in shifted position. v

9. The combination with a door frame, of a door relatively pivoted with respect to the frame'and gravity actuated, means shiftable, upon closing movement of the door, to an elevated position in which said means may impart an opening impulse to the door when released.

10. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, a door locking mechanism including a shiftable bar and a keeper adapted to receive the bar when the door is in closed position said bar and a keeper having co-operating cam portions constructfor interengaging relationship whereby, when the door is closed, the bar is shifted to a position permitting the door to be locked, said position being such that upon 'door unlocking operation, the co-operating cam portions function to impart an opening im- 1 pulse to the door and a lock mechanism for controlling the door locking mechanism.

11. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, a door locking system including a member mounted for vertical movement 011 the door and a co-operating keeper mounted on the door frame, said' member and keeper being constructed to provide an interengaging relationship, which moves the memberto an elevated position permittingthe door to be locked when the same is closed and which when the door is unlocked imparts an opening impulse to the door through the elevated weight of the member and a locking mechanism control ling said door locking system.

12. The combination with a door frame, of a locker door, door locking means carried by the door and including a gravity actuated shiftable member employing the door closing movement to arrange the member in an elevated position permitting the door to be locked and means which, when the door is unlocked, co-operates with the shiftable member to impart an opening impulse, whereby the manipulation of the locking means will effect the entire operation of opening the door;

13. The combination of ,a door frame having a flange at its edge, a door mounted in said frame, a slide carried by said door flange and movable lengthwise of the door as an incident to the closing or" the door and into interlocked relation With the door frame, a keeper embracing said flange and slide, a look mounted on said door and arranged adjaoent said keeper, said look having a bolt engaging both said slide and keeper when in locked position.

14-. The combination With a locker having a door frame and a door, of interengaging means for normally causing said door to remain in open position, and means for locking said door to prevent disengagement of said interengaging means and to prevent opening of said door When said last named means is in locked position.

15. In a locker, a door a frame, bolt and keeper means arranged on the door and frame and having means adapted to engage each other during closing of the door, engagement of said means tending to constantly urge the door to open position When the door is closed, and locking means for maintaining said bolt and keeper means in engagement and lock the door when the door is in closed position.

\VALTER N. VANCE. 

